Cotton drier



7 Z Wim 2 A. A. NEWTON COTTON DRn-3R Filed Dec. 5, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet l March 20, 1934.

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March 20, A, A NEWTON COTTON DRIER Filed Dc. 5, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 A. A. NEWTON 3,951,87

COTTON DRIER Filed Deo 5' 1952' 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 March 2U, E934.

r la! ...sisef March 20, 1934. v A A NEWTON 1,951,879

COTTON DRIER Filed Dec. 5, 1952 4 SheetsSheet 4 2 5- a, gi: @-42 a 7 g 2/ Z5 5255 ze@ 5a 52 5% Patented Mar. 2i), 1934 NETE@ S'TES Lenen rarest orifice Y 8 Claims.

This invention has general reference to means and methods for drying cotton preparatory to ginning; and, while especial reference will be made hereinafter to means and a method for utilizing waste heat from a steam boiler, or that of the exhaust gases from oil or gasolene engines, the invention also is applicable to use in connection with a direct source of heat, such as that from an oil or gas burner, in plants where elecc trically-driven gins are employed, or where suincient waste heat is not available.

In plants for ginning cotton, which ordinarily are designated as a whole as gins, or cotton gins, it now is customary to raise the cotton i directly from the wagons in which it is hauled from the fields, by means of a suction fan. The cotton is drawn upward from the wagon through a vertically-disposed pipe, from which it passes into a horizontal continuation thereof and is pneumatically conveyed to a separator, or dropper, whence it passes into a distributor by which it is carried to the various gins. Ordinarily, some of the cotton is delivered from the wagons into a storage house, from which it is drawn through a branch pipe connected with the main pneumatic conveying system, which branch may be connected or disconnected whenever desired, usually by means of a valve. It also is customary to have a second branch pipe, similarly connected with the main system, and available for use in raising cotton that overflows from the distributor. The equipment comprising my improved drying means, is intended. to be incorporated with present types of conveying systems through bypass connections with the horizontal pipes thereof, such connections to be controlled by valves, or otherwise, so that they may be opened or closed as desired, and the cotton being traversed through the drying system and returned to the main conveying system by the sameY air draft that would be employed if the drying system were not used. l

Cotton picked in the early morning while still wet with dew, or picked after a rain, ordinarily ,is so wet that ginning it is impossible, altho it may be unloaded from wagons, or raised from the storage house, and carried through the conveying system, without any considerable diiculty. It follows, therefore, that, even when weather conditions are favorable, in the absence of a drying system picking must be deferred in the morning until time has been allowed for the sun to remove the dew from the cotton, and that, even in only moderately rainy weather, days or even weeks may elapse during which no cotton is in condition for ginning. Also, at the time the bolls irst open, and the cotton is at its best, the foliage of the plants prevents suicient access of the suns rays to the bolls to mature them properly and dry out the sap or gum; and if cotton picked at this stage is ginned without preliminary artificial drying, its grade is materially lowered,

so it is the present practice to spread the cotton on tarpaulin or the like and sun-dry it before it is ginned. Since the foregoing facts are well known, numerous attempts have been made to develop ways and means for artificially drying the cotton so that such delays in ginning may be avoided, or at least greatly minimized. But, while some of the drying systems heretofore devised have proven more or less effective in practical use, all have been found to be open to numerous objections, among'which may be mentioned excessive first cost of the necessary equipment and almost prohibitive cost of operation.

The. primary object of the present invention is to overcome various objections to the means and methods known heretofore for drying cotton preliminary to ginning, and particularly in the following respects:

By providing a simple and efficient drying system, and equipment adequate therefor, which readily may be incorporated with the present cotton-handling systems, with a minimum of changes in the latter and at minimum expense;

By providing such a drying system through which the cotton may be traversed by the same means and in the same manner that ordinarily is employed for conveying it from the wagons or from the storage house to the gins;

By providing such a drying system in which special provision is made for preventing leakage of air into the system, whereby the efficiency of the conveying system might be greatly impaired, if not totally destroyed; n 95 By providing such a system which is adapted for utilizing waste heat from steam boilers and/or internal combustion engines, as a drying medium;

By providing such a system in which provision is made for varying and regulating the extent of loo the drying action to which the cotton is subjected, by manual control of the point or points in the system at which cotton of different degrees of wetness begins to be dried;

By providing such a system in which provision is made for varying and regulating the extent of the drying action by manual control of the extent of travel of the cotton through the drying system;

By providing such a system in which the cotton is loosened after being dried, while passing from the drying system back into the conveying system;

By providing such a system in which movement of the cotton from the drying system back into the conveying system is mechanically slowed down, so that the heat accumulated by it in the drying system, and any retained moisture, may become thoroughly distributed before the cotton passes back into the conveying system and thence to the gins;

And by providing a method of drying cotton preliminary to ginning, which will be eflicient, economical, and more generally satisfactory than any such method known heretofore.

'Ihe means by which the foregoing and other objects are accomplished by my present invention, and the manner of their accomplishment, readily will be understood from the following description having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the piping of a typical pneumatic cotton-conveying system having a preferred form of my improved drying systern combined therewith, parts being broken away, and the drying chamber being shown substantially in mid section.

Fig. 2 is a section taken substantially on line Il--II of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail view, the section being taken substantially on the line IV-IV of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation of an alternate form of the invention, in which heat from the exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine is employed as a drying medium.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional detail view, the

f section being taken substantially on the line VI- VI of Fig. 5.

Fig. '7 is an enlarged sectional detail view, the section being taken substantially on the line VII-VII of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a sectional side elevation of a second alternate form of the invention, in which heat for drying is supplied by an oil or gas burner.

Referring rst to Figs. 1 to 4, which illustrate a typical application of my improved drying sysf tem to use in a ginning plant where suilicient waste heat from a steam boiler is available for drying operations, the reference numeral 10 indicates the main horizontal pipe of the pneumatic conveying system, in which suction is created in the usual manner by a fan (not shown).

11 is a substantially vertical pipe through which cotton may be drawn up from wagons, and pass through a suitable bend 12 into a horizontal branch pipe 13 communicating with the main pipe 10. 14 is a pick-up pipe for retrieving cotton that overflows from the distributor (not shown); and 15 is an extension or branch of pipe 10 that leads to the cotton-storage house. 16 is a pipe leading from pipe 10 to the separator, indicated at 17. The foregoing are parts of a typical pneumatic conveying system such as is in common use, and are illustrative of the sort of cotton-handling appara-tus with which my improved drying system readily may be incorporated.

18 indicates a typical steam boiler, having the usual vertical smoke-stack 19. Said stack is enclosed, from a point near its connection with the boiler to a suitable height, by an insulated cylindrical casing 20, which, as illustrated in Fig. 1,

preferably comprises two concentric, spaced shells, having asbestos or other suitable insulating material 2l interposed therebetween, so that the greater part of the heat from the stack 18 is retained within the space 22 between the stack and the casing 19. Said casing is hermetically sealed, and joined to the stack, both at the bottom 23 and at the top 24. A thin metal shell 25 encircles the stack 18 from the bottom 23 of the casing 20.

to a height dependant upon the maximum possible stack temperature; the purpose oi said shell, which is concentric with and spaced slightly away from the stack, leaving an air space 26 therebetween., being to prevent direct contact of the cotton with any portion of the stack in which the temperature may be so high that the cotton might be damaged by such contact.

A series oi inclined baille-plates 27 extend from and are secured to the casing 20, and each of said baiiles is provided with a wedge-shaped auxiliary baille 28, adapted to deflect the cotton laterally of shell 25. Said shell comprises a plurality of sections, the lower one of which is supported upon the bottom closure 23, while the others are supported by the baiile-plates 27; and at the upper end of each oi said sections it is spaced slightly away from the overlying baiile-plate, so as to leave an annular opening 29, while at its lower end each section is spaced away from the underlying baiile-plate so as to provide a similar opening 29A-thus establishing communication between the air space 26 and the drying space 22. Suitable inspection openings 30 afford access to the interior of the casing 20, each of said openings being hermetically sealed by a removable closure member 3l.

Near the bottom of the casing 20, at the lowest side oi the lowermost one of the baiiie-plates 2'7, a pipe 32 provides a connection between the drying space 22 within said casing and the main pipe 10 of the pneumatic conveying system; and near the casing 20 a suitable length of insulated pipe 33, of considerably greater diameter than pipe 32, is joined into the latter, pipe 33 being provided with a series of baiiies 34.

Delivery of cotton drawn into the main pipe 1G, from wagons, from the distributor overflow, or from the storage house, to the interior of the casing 20, is effected through a pipe 35, leading from pipe 10, and having an upper branch 36, an intermediate branch 37, and a lower branch 38, all communicating with the drying space 22. A valve 39 controls communication between pipe and the uppermost branch pipe 36, and a similar valve 40 controls communication between pipe 35 and the lowermost branch pipe 38. Said valves preferably are housed in a three-way pipe-fitting 41, and are manually operable .by means of valve-handles 42 and 43, respectively. Similar valves (themselves not shown, but their presence indicated by handles) control communication between pipe 10 and the respective branch pipes 13, 14, 15, 32 and 35.

In the alternate arrangement shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the exhaust gases from an internal combustion engine, indicated .at 44, pass through a pipe 45 into a muffler chamber 46, and thence through a stack 47 to the atmosphere. Said stack is surrounded by a hermetically-sealed, insulated casing 20A, which is supported upon a suitable base 48; and the pipe 45 is concentrically disposed within an insulated larger pipe 49, preferably comprising two spaced shells having asbestos or other suitable insulating material 50 interposed therebetween. The large pipe orcasing 49 has an air-tight junction with the casing 20A, and communicates directly with a pipe 32A, leading to the main pipe 10 of the ccnveying system. A thin metal shell 51 surrounds and is spaced slightly away from the exhaust pipe 45, and serves to prevent direct contact of the cotton with' the latter. The lowermost branch pipe 38, leading from pipe 35, communicates, near the casing 20A, with the drying space between the outer pipe or casing 49 and the shell 51 which surrounds the exhaust pipe 45.

In the alternate arrangement shown in Fig. 8, an oil or gas burner 52, having a feed pipe 53, controlled by a valve 54, and having a deflector placed above said burner, is disposed within and at the base of a stack 56, which with its insulated enclosing casing 29B is supported upon a suitable base 48A. At the top of the stack 56, a damper 57, having a handle 58 upon which is secured a grooved pulley 59, turnable manually from the vground by means of an endless cord 60, affords means for regulating the rate of passage of heated air through said stack. The operation of my improved cotton-drying system is substantially the same for all three of the forms of apparatus illustrated in the drawings. Whenever cotton that is to be subjected to articial drying is drawn into the main pipe l0 of the pneumatic conveying system, as from the wagons through branch pipe 13, or from the storage-house through branch pipe 15, it is bypassed into pipe 35, and thence delivered to the drying chamber through one of the branches 36, 37 and 38 of pipe 35. The degree of dampness or greenness or the cotton to be dried at any time determines which of said three branch pipes shall be opened :for its passage therethrough, by suitable manipulation of the valves 39 and/or 40. The dampest or greenest cotton preferably should be delivered to the drying chamber through the branch pipe 36 which communicates `with the extreme upper part of said chamber, since cotton so delivered will remain longer in and be traversed farther through said chamber than if it were delivered thereto through either of the branch pipes 37 or 38, and hence will be more thoroughly dried. Similarly, delivery 'of cotton may be made selectively through either of said last-named branch pipes, according to Z'the extent of drying to which it is desired to subject the cotton passing through the system at any \particular time. As the cotton drops and is drawn downward through the vertical drying chamber, it is deflected, scattered and dilerent parts of its mass brought into contact with the `stack or with the protective shell therearound, by the baule-plates 27 and the wedge-shaped baiiies 28; and the number and arrangement of such baille-plates and auxiliary baiiles determines the relative rates of travel through the conveying system and through the drying chamber. When the drying apparatus is arranged as shown -in Figs. l to 4, or in Fig. 3 the cotton after reach- ',ng the bottom of the main drying chamber is drawn into the auxiliary chamber 33, where it is acted upon by the bailies 34, and the enrtrained heat and any retained moisture are uniformly distributed throughout the mass, and the Adrying operation continues. From the auxiliary chamber 33 the dried cotton is drawn through \pipe 32 into pipe l0, and thence passes throughpipe 16 to the separator 1'?.

With the arrangement of the drying equipment shown in Fig. 5, when the cotton reaches the bot- -tom of the vertical drying chamber it is brought close to or in contact with the -muiiier chamber 45, and thence passes into the horizontal drying chamber, from which itis drawn through pipe 32A and into pipe 10. It will be noted that the cross-sectional net area ci the drying space within the casing 49 is appreciably less than that of the drying space within the vertical casing 20A, and hence the cotton passes more rapidly through the relatively higher temperature within the former.

While the provision for circulation of air in the spaces 26 `between the stack and lthe sections of the shell 25 promotes transfer ci heat from the stack, into the cotton in the drying space 22, it also serves the further purpose of enabling air circulated between `the stack and the lowermost, and therefore most highly heated sections of the shell 2.5 to be drawn into the auxiliary drying chamber 33, so that the drying efficiency of said chamber is materially increased thereby. In order, ambiguity in the claims, the stacks, 19, 47 and 56 are designated therein as tubular members, and the outer shell as a casing,

Various modiiications of minor details of the invention disclosed herein doubtless readily will suggest themselves tcthose skilled 'the art to which it apertains, and I therefore do not desire to have my invention construed as being limited to any details not specifically claimed.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In cotton-drying apparatus, the combination, with a drying chamber, of means iol' delivering cotton thereto and withdrawing it therefrom, chamber comprising a heated tubular member, a sectional shell spaced away from said tubular member, an insulated outer casing, and a series o baille-plates between said shell and said casing, the respective sections of said shell having both ends spaced away from said bardeplates so as to leave an annular opening at each end of each of said sections, whereby provision is made for circulation of air between said tubular member and said sectional shell.

2. In cotton-drying apparatus, the combination, with a drying chamber, or means for delivering cotton thereto and withdrawing it therefrom, said chamber comprising an inner shell associated with means for applying heat thereto, an insulated outer casing, a series of baiiie plates between said shell and said casing, and substantially wedge-shaped auxiliary `baffles associated with said barile-plates, whereby the cotton is diverted laterally of said inner shell as it passes through said drying chamber.

3. In a cotton-drying apparatus, the combination, with a drying chamber, of means for delivering cotton thereto and withdrawing it therefrom, said chamber comprising a heated tubular member, a sectional shell spaced away from said tubular member, an outer casing, and a series of baffle-plates between said shell and said casing, the respective sections of said shell having portions spaced away from said baiiie-plates so as to leave openings at bo-th ends of each of said sections, whereby provision is made for circulation off air between said tubular member and said sectional shell.

4. In a cotton-drying apparatus, the combination, with a drying chamber, of means for delivering cotton thereto and withdrawing it therefrom, said chamber comprising a heated tubular member, a sectional shell surrounding and spaced from said tubular member, an outer casing, and a series of inclined baule-plates between said shell and said casing, the respective sections of said shell having end portions spaced away from said baille-plates so as to leave an annular opening at each end of each of said sections, whereby provision is made for circulation of air between said tubular member and said sectional shell.

5. In a cotton-drying apparatus, the combination, with a drying chamber, of means for delivering cotton thereto and withdrawing it therefrom, said chamber comprising a heated tubular member vertically disposed, a shell surrounding said tubular member, an outer casing, and a series of baffle-plates between said casing and said shell, said shell being annularly spaced from said tubular member, whereby an air space is maintained between said tubular member and said shell.

6. In a cotton-drying apparatus, the combination, with a drying chamber, of means for delivering cotton thereto and withdrawing it therefrom, said chamber comprising a vertically disposed shell associated with means for applying heat thereto, an outer casing surrounding and spaced from said shell, and a series of downwardly inclined baille plates each originating at a side of said casing and extending therefrom past said shell, whereby the cotton is directed and redirected toward said shell as it passes through said drying chamber. l.

7. In a cotton-drying apparatus, the combination, with a drying chamber, of means for delivering cotton thereto and withdrawing it therefrom, said chamber comprising an annular shell associated with means for applying heat thereto, a casing surrounding said shell, a serie-s of baiile plates between said casing and shell, and substantially wedge-shaped auxiliary bafiles associated with said baffle-plates, whereby the cotton is diverted laterally of said shell as it passes through said drying chamber.

3. In a cotton-drying apparatus, the combination, with a drying chamber, of means for delivering cotton thereto and withdrawing it therefrom, said chamber comprising a vertically disposed annular shell associated with means for applying heat thereto, a casing annularly spaced from said shell, a series of downwardly inclined baiile plates between said casing and shell, and substantially wedge-shaped auxiliary ballles associated with said baile-plates, whereby the cotton is diverted laterally of said shell as it passes through said drying chamber.

AUGUSTUS A. NEWTON. 

